BACK TO STUMP ONE
by Iridescent Swan
Summary: It has been three years since Akari set foot on Waffle Island... Or at least that's what everyone around her says. What's her clueless boyfriend got to do to bring her back? Everything was going so well... Until they eat dinner at the Sundae Inn. LukexAkarixChase Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening

Back to Stump One

Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening

_Is she awake yet? It's Spring 1__st__, it's been three days!_

_Sssh._

_You idiot. Would you call snoring a sign of someone being awake?_

_Children please! If you will not keep quiet, I would have to ask you to leave._

_We're not kids anymore, Irene...Well most of us._

_Yeah Irene, I mean look at Luna! She's doesn't even reach Akari's shoulders-ow!_

_Akari?_

The mouse-brown haired girl started stirring, and eventually her eyes started fluttering open. A blue-haired boy pushed back a pink-haired girl and half-shouted, "Akari!"

"I'm sorry?"

"You, silly!" he playfully nudged her arm.

"Oh right, right, yes uh...how long was I out?"

"Three days, dear," calmly replied a beautiful, peaceful-looking long-haired brunette.

"Three long days! Everyone's been taking turns to watch over you—" started the pink-haired girl.

"But not me! I am here, 24/7!" cut in the energetic blue-haired boy.

"Nu-uh! I'm the first to get here, Luke, and you get out of your house at like 10 in the morning!"

"At least I'm wide-awake, unlike some people like, oh I don't know, an extremely little girl named Luna?"

As Luke and Luna continued arguing, the peaceful brunette watched them, amused.

"I see our patient is finally awake."

A black haired man in a long white coat with glasses entered the room with a clipboard. Akari could tell he was a doctor. "How are you feeling, Akari?"

"Wow, um, I...don't know, I mean—"

"She needs spinach cake! Here! I brought some!" Luke shoved a spoonful of the greenish cake into Akari's mouth.

After swallowing it, Akari said, "Why, um, thank you, I feel really great—"

"Uck, no you don't! Here, this is from Grandma, who actually knows how to cook!"

"I believe some herbal tea should do the trick," cut in the long-haired brunette, gently pushing away the two.

"Oh no, it's alright, I'm okay..." said the flustered patient as the doctor approached her.

"So far, her vital signs are normal." He turned to the long-haired brunette. "Could you help me mix up some bodigizer, Anissa? Perhaps one more night here, and then I can let Akari go back to her home."

"We made sure it's clean!"

"And I made sure Luke didn't destroy anything!"

"Renee, Toby and I took care of your field and barn."

"Wow, I...don't know what to say," said an overwhelmed Akari. "I mean the brochure described how beautiful this place was, but it never mentioned how warm the villagers were!"

"Akari, what are you talking about?" slowly said Anissa.

"Before coming here to Waffle Island, I was so nervous and scared and excited at the same time, but then there was a storm that hit the boat, and I got seasick, and I think I passed out... And then now that I wake up, I can't believe everyone actually knows my name!"

Luna, confused, said "wait, Akari, what is the last thing you remember?"

"It was...A day before Spring 1st, I think. I was talking to Pascal—you know, this guy who is the captain of the ship that brought me here? We were still on the boat, and then a storm came, and I got seasick, and I think I passed out."

A long silence followed. Everyone's faces showed horror, shock, or confusion, until Luke broke the silence and blurted out, "what?"

The doctor, who was the next to recover, gently said, "I am guessing you don't know who I am. Hello Akari, I am Doctor Jin. These are my friends, Anissa, Luna, and Luke."

"What do you mean 'your friends'? We're her friends too! Akari, don't you know who I am?" cried Luna.

"Well um, the blue-haired guy over there, I think his name is Luke from your conversation a while ago, called you Luna, I think. And I think she," Akari gestured towards Anissa, "is named Anissa?"

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Come on! Can't I just walk up to her and say 'hey! I'm you boyfriend, and I love you and you love me'?" pleaded Luke to his two companions.

"No," firmly said Anissa.

"Aww! She's been asleep for three days, and then now that she's awake, she can't even remember a thing!" Out of frustration, Luke kicked a tree stump. They then entered the Sundae Inn and sat down at a table.

"I know this is frustrating, Luke, we feel the same way too," Anissa said.

"Yeah! So why do we have to beat around the bush and complicate everything?" complained Luke.

"Because that would creep her out, you dolt!" exclaimed Luna. "Imagine you're Akari, and you think you just got on the island, then after passing out, you wake up and then a stranger that looks like you just randomly comes up and says 'hey there, we're in love, and I've been waiting for three days, so kiss me now!' ? That would creep me out if I were her. Or or or try turning things around. You forget the past three years, and then the newcomer in the village suddenly starts trying to seduce you or something."

Luke thought about it for a moment and said, "well, I'd probably think 'wow! The newcomer is extremely cute! But also extremely scary...'"

"Unfortunately, that is why we can't drop everything on her like that," Anissa sadly explained.

Luke pouted. "But I miss her... And gah! Waiting is just so hard!"

"Yes but if you truly love her, you should learn to wait for her," patiently pointed out Anissa.

"Love lasts forever, so you shouldn't rush!" Luna said in a sing-song voice.

Luke opened his mouth and then closed it again. He then shook his head wildly like a dog and then, with a bright expression on his face, said "of course! I'll wait for her! And I'll get her to fall in love with me all over again! Thanks you guys!"

He quickly hugged two of his friends and then threw open the doors of the Sundae Inn with such a force that one of the paintings on the wall fell off.

"Oops! I'll fix that!"

He quickly swiped the painting and hung it on the wall. But out of rush, he put it on backwards, and then ran back out into the street.

A grey-haired man at the back of the counter in front of the inn chuckled and said, "ah, young love."

Akari was watching the television in her hospital room at the second floor. Featured in one of the channels was a ginger-haired girl with two pigtails, teaching the audience various recipes. Akari had just started giggling when the girl in the TV accidentally knocked over an entire bowl of sugar into her cake mix, when she heard a _thump_ on the window to her left. Looking outside the window, she expected to see a bird on the other side. However, she didn't see anything, and so she just shrugged and focused her attention on what she was watching again.

"Uh, haha, just a moment, folks!" said the girl in the television.

_Thump_.

"Okay, maybe a bit of..."

_Thump_.

"Aha! Here it is! Now next, you should..."

_Thump_.

"What on earth?" said Akari. She got off the bed and opened her window, just as whatever-it-was-that-was-hitting-the-window hit her square in the face.

"Oops! Sorry Akari! I'll fix that!"

Akari rubbed her nose and looked down. It was the energetic boy from earlier that day, and he was holding the end of a rope.

"Hey uh...maybe you could help me out? Can you place that loop on your end of the rope on that knobby thing on the right side of the window? No I mean your other right—there! Thanks!"

Luke started climbing up the wall using the rope. When he reached the top, he sat on the windowsill and, grinning, said, "hey Akari! Sorry about that! What's up?"

"Well, other than being shocked after finding out this morning that I seem to have forgotten the past three years of my existence, then asked by a stranger to help him get in my room after getting hit by his paraphernalia to get up here just a few moments ago, I think I'm doing great!" replied Akari. Smiling, she added, "what's with the grand entrance?"

"Uh..." Luke nervously scratched the back of his head. "Well, longstoryinvolvingacoupleofa ngryanimalsandvillagersthati snotworthhearingabout! Basically, uh, some people" cough "Irene" cough "kinda don't really want me up here, so uh, maybe we could, just, you know, keep this between us?" He gave her a pleading smile. "Please?"

Akari laughed. "Sure, why not?"

Luke grinned and said, "great! Oh and uh, sorry for the rude awakening this morning! Let's start all over again, or go back to stump one as how Pops and I say it. HI THERE! I am Luke! The bravest, the strongest, and most importantly—"

"Luke! What on earth are you doing up here?"

"Whoa!"

Before Akari could do anything, the energetic lad fell backwards out of the window. She put her hands over her mouth and looked down.

"Ow...I'm okay!"

***AN Aww... Poor Luke. Maybe things will get better for him soon? Rate and review? It will make Luke feel better... :o3**


	2. Chapter 2: At Least

Back to Stump One

Chapter 3: At Least

Irene hit the back of Luke's head.

"Ow! I said I was sorry! Either way, I wouldn't have fallen off if you didn't burst in like that..." he said, rubbing the back of his head with his left hand.

"Hmph," Irene grunted. "You should be thankful that I at least didn't hit you as hard as I used to."

Luke grimaced at some childhood memory involving a trip to the Meringue Clinic as a kid, after having fallen off a tree.

"Akari, could you please pass me that black bottle in the cupboard? The uppermost right. Yes, thank you dear... Now here, boy, drink this."

Luke took a sip of the concoction and shuddered. "Ugh! What was that?"

"It's called a painkiller. Now drink up," scolded Irene.

Akari had to cover her mouth to suppress the giggles that were attempting to escape from her mouth as she watched the various faces of disgust morphing into Luke's face.

"Foolish boy...Head so hard that I doubt that would have cracked if you fell headfirst. You're lucky your arm wasn't badly fractured," Irene continued.

"So, uh," Luke started, having recovered from drinking the painkiller. "How long will I have to keep this," he motioned to the sling on his right arm, "on?"

"At least three or maybe four weeks depending on how you behave," replied Irene. "Now off! Go home, rest, and no rigorous activity or any climbing up buildings or trees!"

"Can't I at least stay here for a bit?" asked Luke.

"No," replied Irene. "You can still move your legs, so off!"

"But my butt still hurts! Please Irene?" he begged. "How would you feel if on my way home, I get attacked by one of those two horrid cats on the road? I'll die! And you'll be partly responsible for it..."

Irene did a face-palm. "Alright. But you stay down here so I can keep my eye on you. Akari, if you will, please head upstairs."

"But—" Luke started. Irene, however, shot him with a glare that immediately made him shut his mouth and made Akari go upstairs.

For the next few minutes, Luke probed and touched the various objects he can reach for, saying "ooh", "oh" or "ouch!" while Irene continued to glance at him once in a while with annoyance etched on her face. When Luke found a set of popsicle sticks and started drumming them, Irene exasperatedly cried out, "I think you are well enough to go home without being attacked by two cats barely half your height. Luke—"

"Can I at least go up and talk to Akari?" he pleaded her.

"Either you go home, or you stay down here," said Irene. "Let her rest... She's already had one-too-many surprises for one day!"

"But—"

The phone rang.

"Either you go home, or you stay down here," repeated Irene. She walked up to the phone and answered it. "Hello, this is Meringue Clinic. How may we—"

"HEY AKARI! IT'S LUKE! CAN YOU HEAR ME FROM UP THERE? IRENE WON'T LET ME GO UP SO I THOUGHT WE CAN JUST—"

"LUKE FOR GOODNESS' SAKE!" exclaimed Irene. "Alright, alright, go! But you have to leave when I go up there and tell you so."

"Yes!" shouted Luke, jumping up and punching the air. Irene heard him running up the stairs and then returned to the call. "Hello? I'm sorry, I—"

_CRASH._

"I'm okay!" yelled Luke.

Dale was nearly done cooking his family's dinner, which composed of him and his two sons, Luke and Bo, when he heard the door open.

"Hello Bo," he said, without turning. "Have you seen your brother?"

"Uh...I don't have to see myself to know where I am, Pops. I think you do, though!"

"Luke? Well you most certainly remembered to close the door properly tonight..."

"Actually, that's because I had to use leftie to open it... By the way, Pops! Akari's awake!"

"Oh really? That's great news. Could you tell her," Dale turned around. "That—wait."

He surveyed his son from head to toe. "What happened to you?"

Luke, who already had their bowls and utensils, walked over to their dinner table and placed them there. "Doesn't matter Pops! At least I got to talk to her! And, well, introduce myself again..."

"Introduce yourself again?" his Pops asked him. Dale put down their dinner on the table.

"Apparently, she's got amnesia," said Luke, his grin slightly shrinking. "When she woke up, she thought she just woke up after passing out on the ship! Remember that, Pops?"

"Oh," said Dale. Ever a man of few words, he didn't really know what to say. Patting his son's back, he said, "she'll probably remember it soon."

Luke's eyes fell to his soup. "Leave it to me to mess everything up when everything's perfect, huh?" He smiled bitterly. "At least she's alive!"

Luke stood up grinning again. "Miraculously, I'm not really hungry. Ah well, more for you and Bo, eh? Night Pops! I'll just freshen up then I'll go to bed..."

Dale watched his son as he went up the stairs, neither seeing the lone, silent tear that rolled down on each one's cheeks.

***AN I love what Luke did to get to talk to Akari. Smart and sneaky, huh? Unfortunately, he's very accident-prone. Oh well, we can't blame him! He's just got way too much energy!**

**Questions unanswered:**

**1. How could Akari have forgotten the past 3 years? Does Luke have anything to do with that?**

**2. What did Luke mean when he said "leave it to me to mess everything up ****again****"?**

**3. Why did both father and son kind of cry at that last part?**

**and most importantly...**

**what happened while Luke was travelling from Sundae Inn to Meringue Clinic that led his to piss off Irene and possibly a cat or more villagers, which forced him to climb up the clinic's window, which led him to fall off that window, which led him to get a broken arm? *breathes***

**Oh yes, and when will they actually eat dinner at Sundae Inn, as mentioned in the summary?**

**All shall be answered... Probably in the next chapter. Or the next. Or after a couple more. Or in a separate oneshot. Any guesses or suggestions, anyone? :D Either way... R&R? Please? It will definitely cheer up Luke! Please and thank you from both of us :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Luckily and Unluckily

**...I forgot to put a disclaimer in the first two chapters—oh wait! Hold yo horses! If you have read Chapters 1 (Rude Awakening) and 2 (Ups and Downs) and you are expecting Chapter 3, well you should go back to Chapter 2. I fused Rude Awakening and Ups and Downs in the first one, so technically, this is Chapter 4 :) Anyways, back to the disclaimer... I owneth not the Moon of Harvest. :(**

Chapter 3: Luckily and Unluckily

A white cat was simply strolling along the sidewalk near the beach, content from her first meal of the day that was given to her by the tall, gray-haired human. She was licking her paws serenely until...

"CANDACE! Tell Gandma I'm just off to visit Akari!"

The short, pink-haired girl ran from their humble shop—and at the same time home—with a basket madly swinging on one of her arms until she reached her destination.

"Ha! Beat you again, Luke!" She knocked on the door of the Meringue Clinic and opened it, right before her jaw dropped. Luke grinned and said, "sorry kiddo, better luck next time." He gave her a salute.

Luna smirked. "At least both of my arms are free. That way, I can help Akari more. Hey Akari! Ready to see you home?"

Akari replied, "good morning Luna! I can't wait for—whoa!"

Before she could finish her sentence, her friend had already started to drag her out the door, leaving Luke and her pretty and freshly re-introduced blonde friend, Kathy.

Kathy chuckled. "Ah well. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do." She leaned against the counter before continuing, "so, lover boy, what's your plan? You won't exactly be much help with that arm of yours up in that knot."

"Pssh, big deal! I can still lift up stuff with leftie," he replied smugly.

"Tut tut," said Kathy, disapproving. "You're not gonna want that other arm up in a knot either. Why not just take her out?"

"Well Anissa said I can't tell Akari I love her just yet," 'lover boy' reasoned.

"I just told you to treat her out, but not necessarily date her..."

"Actually, my plan was to bring her around town," he replied, apparently proud of himself. "Since she practically doesn't remember anything or anyone, might as well re-introduce her to Waffle Island!"

"So here's Laurie, I think he's your first goat, though I'm not sure, then there's Sunshine, your good ol' faithful cow—by the way she's pregnant, and she'll probably give birth anytime soon, right Renee?"

A brunette with a pixie cut nodded and said, "I have a feeling this one'll be a boy. I just know it! By the way Akari, I'll be coming over the next few days to re-teach you the basics. Is that alright?"

"Oh...goodness I don't know what to say. Thank you, thank you so much! I really appreciate it," she told her 2 companions.

"Hey, what are best friends for?" piped up Luna. Suddenly, the door of the barn opened and in came Luke.

"Hey girls! Sorry to break up whatever slumber party this is or something," he grabbed Akari's hand and started to pull her out. "But I'm taking Akari out and about. See ya!"

Before the other girls could protest, the two were already turning down the road.

"And well, that's about it!" finished Luke. He had taken Akari to all the shops in town: from Shelly's Tailor Shop (where a stuttering Candace crying tears of joy hugged Akari with such surprising strength), to the General Store (where they spent half an hour after Luke accidentally knocked over some pots of dyes), to On the Hook (where they spent another half hour due to Ozzie and Pascal's million stories about their ventures out at sea), and the Town Hall (where a flustered Akari apologized dozens of times after accidentally calling the mayor "Hilton"). Finally, the only place they haven't seen yet was the Sundae Inn.

"Man, I'm starving! Let's eat dinner! My treat," Luke said. He opened the door then said, "ladies first!"

"Why thank you, fine gentleman," she teased.

This entrance would have been perfect if Luke hadn't tripped over the door sill, which sent him knocking into Akari, who knocked over Kathy, who tripped up her fellow waiter. Luckily, none of them was holding anything. Unluckily, Luke's arm reminded him of pain.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow...Sorry everyone—ouch!"

"Still got two left feet, huh?" said the other waiter. The orange-haired teen helped Luke get to his feet.

"Thanks Chase," he said, wincing.

"No prob," Chase replied. He then turned to Akari, "heard you got amnesia. You alright? By the way, like Luke said, I'm Chase." He held out his hand.

Luckily for Luke, both Doctor Jin and Anissa were in the bar ("on a date", as Kathy later told him). Unluckily for him, Akari shook Chase's hand with two pink cheeks.

***A/N ...review? :)**


	4. Chapter 4: Nowhere to be Found

**Disclaimer: I do not own the bragging rights that would have entitled me to say "I own Harvest Moon!" :( **

Chapter 4: Nowhere to be Found

It was a cool and chilly night; quiet but for the occasional rustle of leaves and greenery whenever some nocturnal creature rushed through, or a slumbering animal stirred in its home within the watchful arms of a tree. Other than the winking stars and the serene moon, no other light shone in the darkness. All of life was seemingly at peace...but then again, nature's facade could always be proved wrong.

_Thump. Thump._

Dale and Bo's snores have already made some sort of musical rhythm in their home long after Luke arrived from the Inn, and although he wasn't brim-full with energy, he still wasn't dead-low enough to fall asleep.

_Thump. Thump._

He has been bouncing his little red ball against the wall ever since he arrived.

_Thump. Thump._

This kind of "thump" was nothing like the sound of his axe against a tree trunk. In fact, if he was holding his axe in that moment and chopping down a tree, he'd be happy.

_Thump. Thump._

But the happiness he'd feel whenever he was doing the most extreme and awesome thing in the world was nowhere near the happiness he'd feel if he had Akari back.

_Thump. Thump._

Despite the sharp pain that shot up his arm two evenings ago, he didn't fail to stay sharp. In fact, when Akari shook hands with the Sundae Inn's chef, he actually saw many things. He saw two spots of pink on her cheeks that weren't there a few moments beforehand.

_Thump._

He saw that small hint of a shy smile on her lips and cheeks.

_Thump._

He saw her eyes.

_Thump._

He has failed to remove that overall image of Akari on his mind.

_Thump. Thump._

From that moment onwards, Akari's attention on blue was nowhere to be found.

The inner child in him wanted to cry out loud "that's not fair!", but he knew Chase. Although he wasn't exactly the nicest person around, he still had enough common sense to back off a bro's girl, right? _Bro code._ It was the most powerful unspoken rule throughout the island. No one breaks _the bro code._

"Gah!" he accidentally cried out. His ball had rebounded too hard and it hit him square on the nose. While rubbing his nose, he bent down and reached for the little round object. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found.

***AN This chapter was originally supposed to be longer, but I had a better idea and decided to place it in a later chapter. So yes, I am sorry if you found this too short :(**

**People...reviewed? :O WOW guys thank you so much for the reviews! **

**Thank you to...**

**TheOneMagic, who's reviewed every single chapter xD**

**Guest, whose review came during one of my "down days" (it really made my day!) :) and**

**Cotton Candy Mareep, whose review included really wonderful suggestions (I kept the window with your review open the whole time I was writing this xD I hope I was able to improve somehow in this chapter...) :D**

**P.S. People have been wondering about what happened to Akari. I shall explain in time! I really didn't explain it at the beginning on purpose. :)**

**So...what did you guys think?**


	5. Chapter 5: Slipped Away

**Disclaimer: Zis lady over here doez not own 'Arvezt Mun (and is in fact too hyper to be rezponsible for it anyway).**

Chapter 5: Slipped Away

_He was holding her hand...but she wasn't holding his._

_There was even another boy behind her. He was around his age..._

"_Luke...you have to let me go..."_

_Her hand slipped away._

Akari bent her neck from side-to-side, cracked her knuckles and shook her hands. She then stood up from her bed and stretched before saying, "let's go!"

After this morning routine, she went to her silvery grey fridge at the left side of her bungalow-type home to drink some of her deliciously fresh goat milk.

"Ah," she said. She went to check the mirror above her dresser and smiled with her "milk moustache". "_Thanks Laurie!"_ she thought.

Grabbing her gloves and watering can, she headed out the door. It was a refreshing spring day. It has been 12 days since her accident, and it was also her first day of "independence". She would have to do all her chores alone that morning since both Anissa and Renee had to stay in their respective homes and help their parents prepare for tomorrow's Flower Festival.

She learned that taking care of both a farm and a ranch could be tedious. It was definitely not as easy as it seemed from an outsider's point of view. Sure, one just had to scatter seeds in order to plant, pick out the ripe crops and pour water over the plants. However, there was also the matter of organizing and planning where to put which crop, the part where you need to choose the crops wisely, and the actual process of watering the plants and bringing the watering can back and forth. She was on her second-to-the-last trip back to the area where she drew water when she heard a rustle in the bushes a few feet beside her barn.

Wondering if one of her animals was on the loose, she slowly approached the bushes.

"Boo!"

Akari blinked in surprise when she caught a pair of golden eyes.

"Do you remember me now?" Luke grinned.

Akari smiled and said, "of course I remember you! You're Luke, 'the bravest, the strongest' and the most awesome guy in the island!"

Luke looked like a puppy that was just given a reward. "Yes! It worked! You remember everything!" He punched the air.

"Oh uh, Luke, not exactly..."

The puppy's reward has just been snatched away from his eyes. "Darn. Chloe _swore_ it would work..."

"Aww," Akari cooed. She pinched his cheeks. "You're so cute!"

Luke felt a stream of happiness flow through his body and up to his cheeks. "You're cute too."

Akari smiled and said, "so...any other things you wanna try out?"

"Huh?"

Akari cocked her head to one side in her confusion. "Um, things to make me remember?"

"Oh! Well we can go to Toucan Island and then I can climb up a coconut tree to, you know..."

Akari's eyes widened. "I think I'll pass."

After that, Luke offered to help AKari with the rest of her chores. He started by watering the rest of the crops while she went to take care of the animals in the coop. Since they both finished on time, they wound up in front of the barn again.

"You up for helping me in the barn?" Akari asked.

"Uh, sure?" Luke said. "But...be warned. I don't really have that much experience with animals. I mean, yeah I haven't really helped out at Brownie Ranch since I was 10. Just so you know..."

"Oh, it's alright," she said.

They both looked at the barn and then headed in.

"I'll start with the sheep," Akari said.

"I'll...milk then?" Luke said.

"Okay." She handed him the milker.

Akari took off her gloves. She never wore them when taking care of her animals firstly because she loved the texture of wool, fur and feathers. It also gave her the feeling of having some sort of connection with them. She decided to walk over to her season-old sheep, Ram, first. She named him Ram because his pastime was ramming his head into her.

"Oh hey there!" Luke suddenly said. "Haha! I forgot that Sunshine just had a baby! Hey Akari, what's the name of this little fella?"

"He's Sonny!" she chirped. She looked over her shoulder and found Luke on the floor with legs spread out and Sonny crawling towards him.

"Why, this guy's awesome! Hey!" Sonny started nuzzling Luke's stomach. "St-stop! That tickles!"

Akari giggled and started to walk towards the two. "Hey Sonny, come here..."

Getting the young calf to move away from Luke proved to be a challenge. Luke tried pushing while Akari tried pulling, but Sonny proved to be heavier than he looked.

Akari panted. "Okay. Trying out another method!"

She stood up, took out a bell from her rucksack and then pulled a pail of milk towards her along with a small pile of hay.

Ringing the bell, she said, "come here, you little rascal. Come on!"

Its attention caught, the said animal turned its head. After what seemed like an eternity, it finally started moving towards Akari.

"Whew, thanks!" Luke said. He got up. "Lesson one: do not sit down beside a calf unless you want to be tortured with tickles."

Akari chuckled as she coaxed Sonny to go to his mother. "Lesson two: asking Luke to help out in the farm will not end with anything being set on fire."

"Ouch," Luke said, dramatically clutching at his chest. A rain of hay and giggles showered him.

"Thank you so much for helping me back there," Akari said. They were now closing the door of the barn. "Ouch!"

"You okay?" Luke said, immediately alert.

"Yeah...it's just my finger..."

"Here, let me take a look."

He took off his gloves and then both of her hands in his and then examined them. "Ah. It's just a splinter. I get that a lot."

After taking it out, he reached into his pocket and took out a band aid. "There! Good as new."

"I'm...impressed. Were you some sort of boy scout or something?"

"Nah, I just always have a pocketful of that since, well as you have seen, I get into a lot of accidents."

Akari widened her eyes in mock horror. "Oh no! You must have passed it to me!"

They both chuckled. Luke then said, "I missed this so much. Akari, I really can't believe you forgot all of our adventures! You know what, there was one time when you wanted to go to the mines. You've just arrived, but on that day, Owen was out horseback riding with Kathy, so I went with you into the mines instead. We kept on falling into pitfalls and running into geysers, and then we got lost in the seventh floor! It was so hilarious!"

His eyes twinkled. He continued, "well of course, we made in out in one piece in the end. We always do! Like a while ago. We'd get into a problem, and both of us don't really know half of what we're doing, but we rush in anyway! Then we find some solution and work together, and we fix everything out."

Akari looked down and smiled, missing the look of longing that flashed in Luke's eyes. "Wish I remember..."

"Hey guys," a third voice called. The two of them looked towards the direction where the voice came from and they saw the owner walk towards them.

"Hey Chase," Akari said, somehow breathless.

"Hey," he said. "Luke, can I borrow Akari for a while? Kathy and Yolanda need her for some reason I don't know. Girls..."

"Sure, I'll go!" she immediate replied. "See you soon, Luke!"

Chase held out his arm and commented, "wouldn't want you to fall on the way."

"Hmph," Akari said. "I'm not that weak or clumsy..."

It was only when she reached for Chase's arm that she realized Luke hadn't let go of her hand up to that moment.

_He was holding her hand...but she wasn't holding his._

_There was ever another boy behind her. He was around his age too._

_He stared at the face of the woman whom he had looked up to ever since he was born. His golden eyes were reflected in hers, up to the tears they were both ready to shed._

"_Luke, I have to go," she gently told him._

"_But...but why?" he asked. He looked at the other child. Who was this other boy? Why was Mama going with him?_

"_Luke..." she said. She kneeled down and kissed his forehead. "You be a big boy, okay? You tell Bo that I love him, everyday. And...you tell...you tell your father that I..."_

_She stopped. Luke had wiped off her tears._

"_Mama, stay," he begged. He squeezed her hand harder._

"_Luke, I love you. But this is for the best, okay? I have to go. You have to let me go. So that everyone will be happy."_

_Not everyone. He wasn't happy. He won't be happy._

"_Mama?" the other boy said._

_His Mama held the other boy's hand._

"_I love you, Luke," she said. "Goodbye."_

_Her hand slipped away._


	6. Chapter 6: You Have Me

**Disclaimer: wo bu ziji de Shoucheng Yue. (lol did I just commit a crime by using a Chinese dislclaimer on a Japanese game?)**

Chapter 6: You Have Me

"_B-but why does he get to keep her? Why not me?" Luke stammered..._

"_But you still have me."_

Luke could hear the various sounds being made in the Flower Festival: people buying and selling, some of them striking a bargain, ladies ooh-ing and ahh-ing after smelling perfume, both kids and adults laughing and chatting...in short, it sounded fun.

Flowers weren't really his thing though, and his arm still hurt, he reasoned to himself. Hence, he was out at the docks; near the festival enough so that his Pops couldn't scold him and say that he didn't go.

"Well this is something you don't see everyday."

Luke turned around to see who it was. Leaning against the railing a few steps behind him with one arm over the ledge and an amused expression on her face was no other than the island's resident dancer: Selena.

Luke grinned and waved. "What's up, porkchop?"

Selena rolled her dark, purplish eyes as he started walking towards him and said, "I can't believe you still say that."

Luke threw back his head and laughed. He used the same greeting on Selena when he was first introduced to her about a year just before Akari arrived. Luke ended up with three purple lines on his cheek due to the three bangles Selena was wearing as she hit him with the back of her wrist after interpreting "porkchop" as an insult.

"Anyways, what _are_ you doing out here? You never missed a single Bug Catching game," she asked. "What with all the gloriously comical moments wherein people literally dive face-first in the mud or carve their faces into a tree, and where prim-and-proper Gill exposes his oh-so mysterious underpants and Craig shows his inner animal as he lands on top of Kathy or whoever else is there."

Luke laughed again. "You know what, for a snobby dancer, you're pretty funny."

Selena pouted and said, "gee, thanks for the compliment. Here I was, being a good citizen and friend, innocently asking what my fellow islander was doing out alone during a festival, and I get called 'snobby'. At least I know how to shrug off my problems."

"As much as I'd like to dive and protect ladies like you from Craig, even I think it's too extreme," Luke replied, gesturing at his arm.

Selena now positioned herself in such a way that her bare lower back touched the white, wooden railings and both of her forearms rested on the ledge. "Oh please, stop pretending like a child. I'm at the Sundae Inn every night, Luke, so I know what's going on."

"Oh, you mean like how I stopped going there with Owen? Yeah well, Pops was getting suspicious, and Bo was already teasing me to him, plus he always leaves me for Kathy anyway—"

"Selena snapped her fingers in front of his face. "I'm talking about Akari here."

"Oh that!" Luke said. "Haha, yeah! We looked so funny when we fell, huh?"

"You're giving up on her."

"What? No I'm not!"

"Yeah you are."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Not!"

"'Too' infinity!"

"No fair!"

"Yes fair, you gave up and stopped, so I won," Selena replied. "See? Someone does something different and you give up just because something changed. What happened to the Luke that kept giving me flowers every single day, even if I kept slamming the door or my food in his face, until he found my favorite just so that I'd forgive him for calling me a pig? It took you a week to find out, and another to find the flower."

She reached out and touched his shoulder. "This is Akari. You should do even _more_ than that."

"You know what," Luke said. "You're right! You are extremely right! Yes, yeah! You are!"

He tried to hug her with both arms but he couldn't extend his right arm very well, so Selena met him halfway. "Thanks!" he said.

"Yeah, yeah," she replied. "I don't give hugs everyday, so you better make that count."

She poked his chest. "I'm checking on you again, young man. You have to be better than this. If not...well, you have us and, you have me..." She shrugged.

"I will be better! I'm pumped!" Luke started running.

"Meowr!" wailed a cat.

Selena put a palm to her forehead. "Watch where you're going!"

_A tall, buff blue haired man stared at his son in wonder. The boy in front of him was merely poking at the spinach risotto he had just cooked._

"_Luke?" he said. "You haven't eaten your food."_

_He stayed silent. Dale sighed inwardly and resumed eating. How could he comfort his own son when he, himself, needed comfort?_

"_Is it because she doesn't love me anymore?" he was suddenly asked. Dale's head jerked up._

"_There was another boy with her, Papa," Luke continued. "Why does he get to keep her? Why not me?"_

"_No, son, I—"_

"_It's my fault! I broke her favorite skull-ture!" he wailed._

"_No, Luke, it's not the sculpture!"_

"_But—"_

"_It's me!" Dale yelled. His chest heaved and his fists were clenched so tight that his knuckles turned white. "It's me. Come over here."_

_Luke stood up and sat beside his Papa. Dale breathed in heavily and said, "Luke, sometimes some people make too many mistakes that they end up hurting the people they love. Your Mama tried to tell me this, but your Papa just sometimes doesn't know when to listen."_

_Dale took off his son's bandana to ruffle his son's hair. "But well, we're here. You still have me."_

"_You have me too, Papa," Luke replied. For the first time after three nights, Luke, Dale and Bo slept together in one room._

**AN:  
**

**I WILL FINISH I WILL FINISH I WILL FINISH**

**That shall be my mantra. I'm so sorry guys! (esp His Lopsided Grin) I had a hard time writing this chapter. I kept getting confused on how the characters will react, so yeaaaah that just proves I don't know them as well as I though :/ I shall work on that.**

**Meanwhile, if this chapter's too short, you guys should be thankful since the reason for the length is because it will entitle a few more chapters for this story xD I've got this whole thing planned out, meaning I know the most basic plot that I want. But as we can see, plans could still change and all...**

**LASTLY I forgot one big detail in the past chapter: LUKE'S ARM. It's broken. So I went back and edited it a bit, in order to stay consistent.**

**That's all! :) Any suggestions and points where I can improve in? ~Iris**


	7. Chapter 7: The Flower Festival

**Yo girl y u no update earlier?**

**I'm so sorry guys! Been busy (even if it's sembreak over here...yeah my parents took advantage of that and I got sent on errands the past how many days). Added to that, I had a bit of a writer's block. Well more of writer's confusion since I had too many ideas and I wasn't sure which ones I should include. So anyways, here you go! :) **

**Disclaimer: Harvest Moon **

Chapter 7: The Flower Festival

Akari closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Her lips pulled up into a smile that seemed to try to reach her ears. She looked up at the ceiling and sighed dreamily. She walked over to her small, light brown wardrobe and picked out her green pajamas, getting ready to take a bath. As she stepped inside her bathroom, she recalled the events that occurred that day.

The Flower Festival was, although exhausting, really fun. She was able to hang out with most of the villagers, see some exotic flowers, and she was given free perfume by Julius. Selena, whose parents visited early that morning, asked Hayden and Kathy to play a tune for her so that she could dance for them. Hamilton got inspired by this idea, however. When Selena finished a song, he asked the stall-keepers to "kindly move to the sides for a while" and then started pairing up the villagers. He looked proud when he saw his son take the initiative to ask a girl (which was Luna) to dance with him. Chase was between Maya and Akari, but with Kathy playing on the guitar, Maya was paired up with Owen, who was on her other side.

"Here Chase, take Akari's hand," Hamilton said while shoving Akari's hand into Chase's. "Now don't be shy, dance!"

Chase raised his eyebrows in amusement. Akari's bashful smile shrank when Chase pulled back his hand, but it grew again when Chase cleared his throat and asked her in an exaggeratedly polite voice, "good morning, mademoiselle, may I have this dance? I believe it's quite improper to have someone else's father force a young lady like you and a young man like me into the awkward art called 'dancing'."

Akari laughed and took his hand. They lined up behind Gill and Luna and said hello to both of them.

"Psst, Gill!" Chase said. "What's this dance going to be? Your dad's disco?"

Gill scowled. "It's called 'Spring Blossom'. Just watch!"

The dance involved a line of guys and a line of girls paired up, a quick-paced melody and a lot of switching partners and turning. The younger villagers followed the lead of their parents and soon, even the youngest villagers were dancing (in their own kind of dance, of course). At the end of the dance, practically everyone was flushed and out of breath. Fortunately, Yolanda had the foresight to prepare drinks for everyone, and so there was a table under the shade of the clocktower full of drinks for everyone.

"Chaaase!" chirped Maya. She ran over and gave him a hug from the back. "I got you orange juice!"

"Uh..." Chase said, seemingly unsure of what to say.

Maya rolled her eyes. "No, I did not make it. Stop assuming all the time!"

And with that, Maya walked away, pouting. Chase sighed, took off his hairpins and ruffled his hair.

"Is that why your hair always seems to be flying away?" Akari joked.

"You mean because of Maya?" Chase asked. "Yes. Nah, I'm kidding..."

He stared at the direction where Maya went off to as he put his hairpins back on. He then brought Akari some of her own orange juice and they stood by the arch near the stairs leading back down to town.

"Chase!" Yolanda called out. She was standing at the foot of the stairs with Hayden, Jake and Colleen. "Come here and help us bring up lunch!"

"See you in a bit, Akari," he told her.

Lunch, of course, deserved no less than five stars with Yolanda and Chase's cooking. After that, everyone helped clean up, and a good 15 minutes later, they were all done and Akari noticed some new sounds in the air. Bugs were all starting to come out from out of the bushes and trees.

"Hey everyone! Let's start the Bug Catching game!" someone called out.

"Do you want to join?" Anissa asked Akari.

"I think I'll sit this one out," Akari said, withdrawing.

"Nonsense!" cut in Kathy. "You're joining, whether you like it or not. Hey Chase! Maya! Join us!"

Chase scoffed. "No way."

"Come on, Chase!" Maya begged.

"No."

"You owe me for being rude to me on a Festival!" Maya cried out.

Chase pursed his lips and looked like he was going to refuse. In the end, however, he closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Fine..."

The Bug Catching Game was...interesting for Akari. It was quite difficult and injury-causing too. After all, no one could actually read everyone else's minds and so people kept knocking each other's heads and tripping over. Some even accidentally (or maybe not so accidentally) missed their target and ended up latching onto his/her crush's arm or hand. Basically, it involved a lot of squashed bugs, flying dirt, leaves and grass, and human contact.

Akari turned on the shower and let the water streak through her. She probably would have called it a perfect day, but someone was missing.

A certain blue-haired boy.

**AN Yay for fillers! Mehh I promise the next chapter will actually have the "certain blue-haired boy" in it. Around 6 or 7 chapters to go everyone -)**

**By the way, anybody doing NaNoWriMo? :D Let's go, Wrimos!**

**Lastly, thank you so much again for all the support, reviews, etc! ^.^ They really make my day 3**

**~Iris**


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